Keolis announces its strategic partnership with Masabi

News published on
December Thursday 10, 2015

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London and Boston, December 10th, 2015 – Masabi, the global
leader in mobile ticketing and innovative fare collection for transportation,
today announced a $12 million funding round with investment from leading
international public transport operator Keolis, Lepe Partners, MasterCard, and
existing investor MMC Ventures. Bryan, Garnier & Co acted as Financial
Advisor to Keolis.

Founded in
2001, Masabi is the leading provider of transit mobile ticketing & payments.
Headquartered in London with an additional office in New York, Masabi currently
employs over 180 people and works with more than 22 transport operators and
agencies around the world, including: Virgin Trains, Abellio, Thames Clippers,
New Orleans RTA, Boston’s MBTA, Las Vegas, Transport for Athens, and New York’s
MTA. Masabi’s announcement builds on strategic partnerships with MasterCard and
Keolis. Keolis is working to include Masabi’s mobile ticketing into its
integrated digital offering, dedicated to delivering a new passenger
experience.

“Our mission is to transform everyday
transport for millions of people in cities world-wide. The combination of
Masabi, MasterCard and Keolis represents three companies working at the
forefront of their respective fields to develop and deploy products, making
this a reality,” said Brian Zanghi,
CEO of Masabi. “We are delighted to
welcome their investment together with that from Lepe Partners and MMC Ventures
to support our operations around the world where mobile ticketing is enhancing
the quality of life of urban residents and visitors and bringing about smarter,
better connected cities.”

Masabi’s
technology revolutionizes the customer experience across all modes of
transport, freeing passengers from waiting in line for a ticket or scrambling
for cash when paying for their fare. For cities and transport operators it
significantly reduces the cost of fare collection, removing the need for costly
hardware and ticket media. At the same time integrated big-data analysis and
visualization tools present agency activity via a user-friendly graphical
interface, allowing them to better plan, manage and optimize their services.

“As a leading public transport operator, one
of our key priorities is to improve our passengers’ travel experience, using
mobile technology to make journeys seamless,” said Jean-Pierre Farandou, Executive Chairman of the Keolis Group. “Through our partnership with Masabi, our
PlanBookTicket solution will go up to the next level by integrating Masabi’s
ticket technology. The combination of our expertise will give us a step ahead
both in France and around the world.”

Alexandre Boukhari, Director at Bryan Garnier, said: “This new
operation carried out by Bryan, Garnier & Co highlights our in-depth
knowledge of Smart City solutions providers in Europe and our ability to find
the best technological partner for Keolis.”

Masabi is
the global leader in mobile ticketing and fare collection for transportation. Masabi
delivers transport ticketing solutions that delight customers and reduce cost
for agencies and operators. Masabi’s JustRide is a scalable mobile ticketing
and fare management platform, which allows agencies to upgrade or replace their
legacy ticketing systems at a fraction of the cost of traditional options and
at a minimum risk for its agency partners. Masabi is backed by Fontinalis
Partners, Lepe Partners, m8 Capital, MasterCard, MMC Ventures and Keolis.

Keolis is
one of Europe's leading public transport operators, established in 15 countries
on four continents. The group offers a full range of transport solutions to
meet the needs of local authorities and passengers and constantly strives to
offer its clients mobility choices in tune with the priorities of each
geographical region.

Bryan, Garnier & Co is an independent
investment bank specialized in European TMT, Healthcare and Renewable Energies
growth companies. Bryan, Garnier & Co is positioned in three activities:
Equity Research & Brokerage, Asset Management and Corporate Finance. Bryan, Garnier & Co has become a
leader in advising European growth companies on strategic finance transactions
such as mergers & acquisitions, equity capital market, LBOs, IPOs and
private placement.With more than 150 professionals
based in London, Paris, Munich, Geneva, New York and New Delhi, Bryan, Garnier
& Co combines the range of services and the expertise of top-tier
investment banks with the level of attention to clients of a boutique.